hollywood

There's the Bonaventure in LA. Good place for a drink and view but forget the food.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't put much stock in this, however, since the study was repeated several times with the same results who am I to argue?

In a word, yes.

to my chinese-american sensibilities, that sounds nasty. but i'm sure i've had tons of stuff others would consider inedible. Speaking of Chinese, Ruen Pair (Thai) in LA makes something called Chinese Olives and Pork--very tasty.

Same answer I gave you before on Cinco de Mayo. Not in Philadelphia Actually, Labneh is the fresh cheese made from yogurt. It has a cream cheese like texture. In the Middle East I suspect they often spread it on pita, giving it a pizza like appearance. Perhaps that is your experience. I think I prefer it on the bread used by Philadelphia Java Company. Pita would be heavier I suspect. You're right. I was thinking of lahmejun --which is a pizza.

I'm confused. I thought labneh was a pizza looking deal. Hunh?

Good places to eat in Tuscany, La Chiusa and Locanda D'el Amorosa. In (or just outside) Sienna, there used to be a CIGA hotel. I'd imagine the hotel's still there. It is. It's called the Park Hotel.

That's why they call you, Pineapple Princess.

Delicious.

You're right about the chapel. I'd forgotten about it. It is charming. Somewhere not too far away is another chapel done by Matisse. Both are worth visiting.

I like Chapoutier Cotes du Rhone for between $6.99 and $9.99.

$26 at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...1,2984904.story Painless LATimes registration req'd.

How about a variation on pissaladiere?http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_13710,00.html

A couple more decades of massive immigration from civilized parts of the country. But that's just a theory. A couple more decades of massive immigration from the less-civilized parts of the country. But that's just another theory. Actually, as much as I might like to see this sort of melding, I think its even odds that such in migration could as easily hurt the regional cusine and lead to further globalization/los angelesation/assimilation.

About those frogs' legs..... Loiseau knew that he needed a manifesto, like the Troisgros brothers’ and Bocuse’s nouvelle cuisine, to interest critics. He radicalized nouvelle, cutting out cream, egg yolks, and liquor, which is often used to deglaze pans. For example, in classic French cooking, frogs’ legs are deep-fried in butter and garlic and covered with parsley leaves. Loiseau fried the frogs’ legs lightly and served them with purées of garlic and parsley. “You have the garlic taste without the force, you have the natural juice of parsley without the butter,” he once explained to me. [From an article in this weeks' New Yorker.]

In Padua, you can see St. Anthony's tongue in the cathedral. Don't know if it was preserved due to gourmet activities on his part.

you're missing the irony. but i'm glad we're on the same page. This is beginning to sound like a circle jerk.

He must be happy. Hey, if you got your 15 minutes extended for 5 years, you'd be happy, too.

I don't know about proper steaming, whatever that might be, but Fat Guy is right. The Langer's pastrami, served BTW on great bread, just falls apart deliciously in your mouth.

Inspired post. If you're just smoking a brisket, which grate do you use?

That's what I'd thought based on the wines Montelena makes today. But you have to remember that it was Mike Grgch who was making the chardonnay for them then.

Don't know the wine, but at $10-$12 per bottle it could be worth investigating. http://www.castlerockwinery.com/00wines.htm

Nice report. Bernard Loiseau, as you may know, is the Michelin 3 starred chef who recently committed suicide amid speculation that he might lose his third star (he didn't).

Without alcohol, it seems you really have to work hard to get over $200 per person. To build a check, you have to have aperitifs, a degustation or some personal attention from the chef, dessert, after dinner drinks, and luxe items such as caviar, foie gras, etc. would assist. But to get there in a hurry, you have to do wine--perhaps a paired tasting menu. Otherwise, in a business context, you need greedy clients to build a big check. I've had some $200 meals, but I can't recall ever getting over $250. It's hard work.

Sara, After you've seen a few more of his posts you'll realize that 99.9% of Tommy's posts are humorous, ironic, or both. But serious, nah.